At the end of the hall a dark passageway led to the basement. I felt my way down and turned the corner into the first room. It was empty. I checked the bathroom and then headed for the other room. When I neared the door I heard a noise––it was faint but loud enough that I could make out the rhythm of someone’s voice.
“Not a sound, you hear me. Don’t make a peep!”
I held my gun out in front of me with one hand and reached for the handle of the door with the other. It was locked, but the door was cheap and hollow. I turned to the side and aligned myself with the area beneath the knob and then kicked––hard. It thrust open. There, on a chair in the corner of the room, was Bridget. She was bound to the chair with rope that Vicki had wrapped around her wrists. From the years I spent with a father who never got the sons he wanted, I could see Vicki’s skills in that department left a lot to be desired. A single piece of duct tape was stretched across Bridget’s mouth and her cheeks were stained with tears. Vicki was positioned behind Bridget and held a knife to her throat.
“Not what you planned,” I said.
She grabbed a mass of Bridget’s hair and tightened her grip on the knife.
“Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”
“The knife doesn’t suit you,” I said.
She slanted her head to one side.
“You think you know so much, don’t you?”
“Fake an appraisal, screw a potential client into thinking they scored a great deal on a renovated home, and you pocket a bunch of extra cash,” I said. “That about right?”
The look on her face said it all.
“And what about Parker Stanton, where did he come into play?” I said.
“What does one have to do with another?”
“Since you killed him, I would say everything,” I said. “But why change your MO? First the poison and then a gun, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I didn’t kill him, ever think of that?”
“But you did kill Charlotte,” I said.
I reached in my pocket with my free hand and pulled out the container I found in the kitchen.
“And this will prove it,” I said.
“You’ll never get the chance.”
“I won’t allow you to hurt anyone else.”
She gave me a look that said yeah, right.
“You won’t shoot me,” she said. “I bet you don’t even know how to use that thing.”
I popped off a warning shot about three inches from her right temple. It settled into the wall behind her. I then redirected the gun to the middle of her forehead.
“Drop the knife, kick it over to me, and step away from Bridget,” I said.
“I’m the one calling the shots here. If you don’t want me to end her life right now, you’ll toss that gun over to me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “I spoke to the chief of police on my way here. In about a minute cops will be all over this place.”
It was a white lie, but I hoped it would save Bridget’s life. Vicki didn’t look convinced.
“I don’t hear any cars outside. What do you take me for?”
“Let her go,” I said, “it doesn’t have to end like this.”
She scrunched her eyelids together until they were almost closed and glared at me.
“Charlotte. Little miss goody two shoes. She had everyone wrapped around her finger. I showed her. She wasn’t the only one who could make money.”
“Except she made it the honest way and you didn’t,” I said.
“Who cares how I earned it, I’m the one who’s still alive.”
“You had to kill your partner to get where you are, someone who was supposed to be your friend. And for what, so you could make a few bucks.”
“She wanted to leave me and work for another agency. She said it was time she branched out on her own. Can you believe that? After all I did for her, she didn’t even care.”
“Charlotte wasn’t going to another agency, she was leaving the country,” I said. “And I don’t blame her. She wanted to get away from you and from Parker and all the people she thought she could trust in her life. Both of you let her down. All she wanted at the end was to help others have a better life. But you and your greed took that away from her.”
Vicki stared at me in disbelief.
“But Jack said if I didn’t do something, she would leave and…”
“And what?” I said. “He told you to kill her?”
She opened her mouth and made a noise that reminded me of a hyena.
“Jack didn’t have a clue what was going on, he was too stupid to figure out what I was doing.”
“What then?” I said.
“His only concern was making sure Charlotte didn’t get picked up by another agency. A couple weeks ago we made a deal––if I convinced her to stay there was $10,000 in it for me. He was afraid he’d be replaced if she left. But no, Charlotte’s mind was already made up, and do you want to know something––that ungrateful bitch planned to rat me out to the board. She told me I had a week to confess or she’d do it for me.”
“So you decided to make her pay,” I said.
“You don’t get it, do you? I made a name for myself here. Once I lost my license and word got around, I’d be ruined in this town. Getting rid of Charlotte was my only choice, and I knew just how to do it. Before skiing she liked to mingle with the guests and have a glass of wine. She was too busy schmoozing with everyone to notice me come in. I was in a wig, of course. And when she got up to use the restroom, I did what I needed to do. It was so easy.”
While Vicki continued her rant, Bridget wiggled free of her wrist bands. Once they were out, she lifted up her fingers about two inches and looked me in the eye and counted to three. I took a step forward and Bridget threw her hands up and grabbed Vicki and tried to wrestle the knife out of her hands. In her attempt to secure the knife she shielded her body in front of Vicki and I couldn’t get a clear shot. Vicki raised the knife and then swung it downwards. It slashed Bridget in the side and she fell to the floor. She then angled the knife and lunged at me.
A shot went off and Vicki collapsed on the floor. She had been hit once in the chest, but there was one problem, my gun never fired. I felt a firm grip on my shoulder and I swung around to see Coop hovering over me.
“You alright?”
I wanted to respond, but I was in shock. Coop radioed for an ambulance. I knelt down over Bridget. She clenched her stomach. Blood was everywhere. Coop bent down next to me and tried to stop the bleeding.
He looked at me and said, “She’s going to be fine.”
Vicki was positioned about a foot away from Bridget. Her body was still and her eyes were closed. I reached over and placed two fingers on her neck. Coop took my hand and pulled it back.
“There’s no need for that,” he said, “she’s dead.”
CHAPTER 59
The ambulance arrived and loaded Bridget inside. I called Tommy and gave him the news. Coop talked to some guys from homicide that arrived on the scene, and when he finished he made his way over to me.
“How did you know––”
“Nick called me when he landed. Said you wouldn’t answer your phone and that you were here. And he asked me for a favor.”
“I guess I owe you one,” I said. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know she was responsible for the murder. Guess you were on the right track after all.”
His words were sharp, but his face displayed something different, a sense of relief maybe that I was alright. It was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.